Tiwari baits rebels, MLAs with postings

Threatened by a rebellion from his own party legislators, Uttaranchal Chief Minister Narain Dutt Tiwari threw a bait of offices to them and managed to win two other MLAs decimating the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) in the Uttaranchal Assembly.

Tiwari today included Balbir Singh Negi, the lone NCP legislator and independent Gagan Singh Rajwar into the Congress fold.With two MLAs, the number of Congress legislators in Uttaranchal is now 40. On Friday, Tiwari declared 10 posts of chairpersons of various boards and corporations to party legislators. For MLAs who didn’t get any office, he promised to expand his Cabinet soon with the high command’s permission.Rumours that nine Congress legislators were trying to hobnob with the BJP, the main opposition party, prompted Tiwari to throw the bait.

A day earlier, Uttaranchal MoS for Industrial Development Kishore Upadhaya, a known detractor of Tiwari, had alleged that his telephones were being tapped.